Victor Stiebel, the ‘Quintessentially English Designer’, in Mid-Twentieth Century North America

Abstract

From his debut in 1932 until his retirement in 1963, the name of Victor Stiebel, a London-based, South-African born designer of couture, appeared often in the fashion press and his elegant, tailored suits and romantic evening wear were much admired. Since then, Stiebel’s name has fallen into obscurity and there are relatively few extant garments in institutional collections. Two tailored wool suits with Victor Stiebel’s label donated to a Toronto college study collection inspired this research to consider how the donor may have come to know of Stiebel and acquire the suits, and also more accurately date the suits. Embracing a combination of object-based research and a survey of material published in North American newspapers and fashion magazines, this study establishes that Stiebel’s name was acclaimed in North America during his lifetime, offers a more precise dating for the suits based on the original design sketches, and reflects upon the challenges of object-based research.